Vegetable slicer and grater



Jan; 1935.. c. W. PRICKETT VEGETABLE SLICER AND GRATER Filed April 3, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet Jan. 115, 135. Q W. PRQCKETT LQ ZQEQ VEGETABLE SLICER AND GRATER Filed April 3, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet? Patented Jan. 15, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VEGETABLE SLICER AND GRATER UlydeWi Prickett, Santa Monica, Calif. Application April 3, 1933; Serial No. 664,176

8 Claims. (01.146-152) The object of my invention is to provide a my device, whereby the objects contemplated are vegetable slice!" and: grater which simple, attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, durable and comparativelyinexpen ive"to manupointed out in my claims, and illustrated in thefacture. accompanying drawings, in which:

I A further object is to provide a slicer for Figure 1- is a vertical sectional view through vegetables, fruit or the like having-'interchangea vegetable slicer embodying my invention. able .knives so that coal-sen fine Shoes can b Figure 2 is a rear elevation of the slicer blade, taken, or grater knives of coarse or fine cut, as h upp r nd in r n f o n ve pac desired, may besubstltutedflior 'theknives, the on the'drawings. t

apparatus for providing'ior the interchange of Figure 3 is a sectional view through the hop- 10 kni being dily bl f tm s per, slicing blade and slicing knife as taken on A further object is: to provide a vegetable h lin 3-3 of Fi ure 2.,

li andigrater whieh-aJhoppephas b- Figure 4 is a sectional view similar to the stantiallyverticalwalls-to prevent iriction'of the central portion of Figure 1 Showing the Slicer vegetables thereon; so thghthe vegetables can blade in a raised position and a stop hOOk 15 readily feed down into slicing position, the slicp te disengaging po t o ing bladecarrying a sllcingkniie, arranged to Figu 5 i a p sp ive Vi w 0ft 6 li in travel at an undershot angle so that the weight e. f-th Vegetable. isimposedi it, t hopper Figure 6 isa frontelevation of agrater knife.

being substantially V-shaped'so'i that the last Figure 7 is a sectional view on the line '7-7 20 particle of the vegetablebeing sliced can be o u e 6. v operated upon wjthbutleaving any coarse pieces Figure 815 a centrallsectional view through a unsliced modified form of hopper construction; and

Still a further object is to provide a slicer of F u 9 is a v wsimilar t th upp p tion simple construction made from wire and'sheet of gu e 8 Showing a hinged door f the p- 25 metal, the device comprising a rectangular wire D removed to-illustrate the connection of a frame with a sheet'metal 'hoppersecured'to it p n for 0 to the ppe fi by edges of the hopper encircling-the frame, a 011 the accompanying d a I have used slicing blade being slidable along'the fra d the reference numeraIslO, 12 and 14 to indicate an havingguide edges partially encircling the'edges d members, a' w cross bar and an upp r of t hopper.whicht encircle t e frame t procross bar, respectively, of a substantially recvide the means for slidablymountingthe blade taiigulai Wire frame- A pp is p ed of relative to'the hopper; side walls 16 and a front wall 18, each of which Still a further object is to provide a. removable is substantially vertical. The rear edges of the 35. leg for t he slicer which can be associated thereside walls 16 encircle the side members 10 Of the with during the slicing operation andreadily frame, as shown in Figure 3. disconnected therefrom when the slicer is not in In order to retain the hoppe aga longituuse, this being especially" desirable when the dinal movement relative to the wires 10, I proslicer is boxed: for shipment. vide a cross bar 22 at the lower edge of the wall Still a further object is to provide'stops for 18, the cross bar having depending ends 24 sol- 40 limiti th m v t;r 1.v the slicer blade, the dered or otherwise secured to the wires 10. The blade being movable rather than the hopper as cross bar-22 serves as a reinforcement and termiin some types of slicers and thus eliminating nates the lower edge of the hopper at the proper any-danger of cuttingtheoperatorsfingers. position for the slicing knife to just clear, as

Another object'is to provide'one of the steps w hereinafter pp Supporting the in the form of a spring hook'so that it first hopp I pr v a substantially p d l arrests the movement 'oi':'the slicer blade and member A havin a C s be 6 a d terminal then stops it, the other stop; bein arranged so ends 29- The al nds a adap d r thatrit can be sprung. to position allowing disthreading through eyes 31 which are formed by connection of the slicer blade from the'hopper slitting the sides 16 of the hopper and bending and its frame for washing' purposes or for alternate sections between the slits in opposite changing blades. directions.

With these and otherobjectsin view my in- I provide a substantially flatcutting blade 28 vention consists in the construction, arrange having side edges 30 partially encircling the ment and combination of the various'parts of edges 20 of the hopper. This rrangement p vides for slidably guiding the slicing blade 28 relative to the hopper and places the blade in position to form one wall of the hopper. The blade 28 has a handle portion 29.

The hopper is provided with a substantially rectangular opening defined by the lines 32, indicated in Figure 2, from which lips 34 and 36 extend.

Lines 38 represent the edge of a rearward depression in the blade 28 to receive a slicing knife 40. The slicing knife 40 has lips 42 to engage the lower edge of the opening 32 to retain the lower edge of the slicing knife in position relative to the slicing blade. The lips 36 serve as shoulders to limit swinging movement of the knife to position alined with the blade.

To retain the knife in position and yet permit its ready removal, a turn button 41 is provided. It is pivoted at 43 to the blade 28. It has a cutaway edge 44 which, when in the dotted line position of Figure 2, will permit removal of the knife 40. When in the full line position, however, it is swung in front of a depressed portion 46 of the knife 40 to retain the knife in alined position.

The knife is provided with a gauge edge 48 and a sharpened cutting edge 50. The gauge edge first engages the vegetable being sliced and the elevation of the cutting edge 50 above the plane of the knife then determines the thickness of the slice. I contemplate the provision of different knives for different thicknesses of cut and that is why I make the knives so readily removable.

In sliding the slicing blade downwardly, it is desired to have a stop which first arrests its movement and then positively stops it. I provide this in the form of a U-shaped spring 52 having a hook portion 54. The spring first frictionally engages the cross bar 14, as shown in Figure 1, to arrest the sliding movement of the slicing blade and after the blade is moved slightly further, the hook 54 serves as a positive stop.

To stop the upward movement of the slicing blade, I provide a U-shaped spring 56 on the lower edge thereof having a'hook portion 58 to engage the cross bar 22. As shown in Figure 4, the hook can be sprung to a position where it does not engage the cross bar, whereupon the slicing blade may be removed for washing purposes or for changing the knives therein. The spring 56 prevents the blade 28 from allowing vegetables to fall out of the hopper.

It will be noted in Figure 3 that the cutting edge 50 of the knife extends the entire width of the hopper so that no ridges are left at the sides of the vegetable being sliced to prevent its subsequent feed to the knife. This is accomplished by providing reinforcing flanges 60 for the sides of the knife (see Figures 2 and so that the knife does not have to extend sidewise beyond the ends of the slot therein between the gauge edge 48 and the knife edge 50. The flanges 60 extend at substantially right angles to the plane of the knife.

In Figure 6, I have shown a knife 40a having grater cutting edges 50a rather than a knife edge 50 as shown in Figure 5. Different blades with larger or smaller grater edges and depressions can be provided so that the device can be universally used for both fine and coarse grating or slicing.

In Figure 8, I have illustrated a modified form of construction in which the wall 18a of the hopper is hinged on the cross bar 14. It is constrained to move toward the slicing blade by springs 62 having their ends 64 anchored along the edges of the hopper walls 16a, as shown in Figure 8.

A handle 65 is provided for retracting the wall 18a for inserting a vegetable 66, whereafter the wall is permitted to engage the vegetable and during the reciprocations of the cutting blade, will feed the vegetable into the blade. The wall 18a will finally assume .a' positionadjacent the cutting blade afterthe lastparticle of the vegetable 66 has been sliced.

,In the construction shown in Figure 8, a reinforcing frame 68 is provided having a crossbar '70 which can be engaged by the operator for holdingthedevice while using it. This eliminates any possibility of squeezing the sides 16a. of the hopper, which would prevent proper operation of -the wall 18a.

I have provided a vegetable slicer in which it is not necessary to touch the vegetable after it has beeninserted into the hopper. The cutting blade is the movable part of the slicer and since the vegetable feeds by gravity or by the spring urged wall 18min Figure 8, it is not necessary for ,the operator toengage the vegetable with his hand and thus run the chance of getting his hand cut.

Some changes may, be; made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my device without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of struc ture or use of mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably-included within their scope.

I 1 claim as my invention:

1. In a vegetable slicer, a frame, a hopper thereon, a slicingblade slidable along said frame and forming one side of said hopper, a slicing knife carried by said slicing blade, opposite sides of said hopper having eyes and a leg member removably received in said eyes.

2. In a vegetable slicer, a frame, a hopper thereon, a slicing blade slidable along said frame and forming one side of said hopper, a slicing knife carried by said slicing blade, opposite sides of said hopper having eyesand a U-shaped leg member having-the terminal ends thereof removably received in said eyes.

3. In a slicer of the character disclosed, a frame, a hopper extending from one side thereof, a' slicing blade slidable along the opposite side thereof, a slicing knife carried by said slicing blade and a stop for said slicing blade comprising a resilient member anchored at one end, having a projection at its other end and inclined relative to the pathof travel of said slicing blade, said slicing blade first engaging the inalined portion thereof and then said projection which positively stops it upon movement of the slicing blade in a direction toward said stop.

4. In a slicer of the character disclosed, a frame, a hopperextending from one side thereof, a slicing blade slidable along the opposite side thereof, a slicing knife carried by said slicing blade and means to arrest and stop the movement of said slicing blade in one direction comprising a spring hook first frictionally engageable and then positively engageable in the hook portion thereof.

5. In a slicer ofthe character disclosed, a frame, a hopper extending from one side thereof, a slicing blade slidable along the opposite side thereof, a slicing knife carried by said slicing blade andmeans to stop the movement of said slicing blade comprising a spring hook which can be sprung to a non-stopping position to permit removal of the slicing blade from the frame.

6. In a slicer of the class described, a substantially rectangular wire frame, a sheet metal hopper on one side thereof having edges encircling said frame, a slicing blade having guide edges partially encircling said edges of said hopper, a slicing knife carried by said slicing blade and a cross bar for the lower edge of said hopper, said cross bar being secured to said frame to prevent longitudinal movement of said hopper relative thereto.

7. In a slicer of the class described, a substantially rectangular wire frame, a sheet metal hopper on one side thereof having edges encircling said frame, a slicing blade having guide edges partially encircling said edges of said hopper, a slicing knife carried by said slicing blade and a cross bar for the lower edge of said hopper, said cross bar being secured to said frame in position to terminate one edge of said hopper closely adjacent said slicing knife when it registers therewith, said cross bar reinforcing said edge.

8. In a slicer of the class described, a frame, a hopper extending from one side thereof, a slicing blade slidable along the opposite side thereof, a slicing knife carried by said slicing blade, a cross bar for the lower edge of said hopper, said cross bar being secured to said frame in position to terminate one edge of the hopper close- 1y adjacent the slicing knife when it registers therewith, said cross bar reinforcing said edge.

CLYDE W. PRICKETT. 

